| PENN STATE (0-0) @ FAU Kick-Off Tournament |
| |
| Fri. Feb. 6 vs. Arkansas (3:45 p.m.) | vs. FAU (8:15 p.m.) |
| Sat. Feb. 7 vs. LIU Brooklyn (11:15 a.m.) | Georgia Tech (3:45 p.m.) |
Sun. Feb. 8 vs. Kansas (9:00 a.m.) |
| FAU Softball Stadium | Boca Raton, Fla. |
| GAME DAY LINKS |
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Feb. 4, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State softball team will officially begin its 50th anniversary season this weekend at the FAU Kick-Off Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla. The Lions will play their first of 56 games on the 2015 slate, Friday, Feb. 6 vs. Arkansas (3:45 p.m.) and then later in the day their second game vs. host Florida Atlantic (8:15 p.m.).
Tournament action will continue on Saturday in sunny South Florida with match-ups against LIU Brooklyn (11:15 a.m.) and Georgia Tech (3:45 p.m.). Second year head coach Amanda Lehotak will watch her team conclude its first road trip of the season Sunday, with a 9:00 a.m. meeting with Big 12 foe Kansas.
Live stats for each game will be available via Game Tracker and in game updates will be provided through the @PennStateSB's official twitter feed.
SERIES NOTES
TRAVEL TESTED
Penn State will play its first 24 games on the road before the weather warms up and it's able to play the season's first games at Nittany Lion Softball Park at beard Field. Last season the Lions were 6-15 through their first 21 games on the road, featuring stops in Arizona, Louisiana, Florida and Virginia before returning to Happy Valley.
THE START OF SOMETHING NEW
Now in its 51st season, PSU holds a 20-30 (.400) all-time record in season openers, having lost the last two. The Nittany Lions are 3-2 this decade in their first games of the season and 5-10 this century. Last year Penn State dropped a 12-10 decision to Oregon State in the Kajikawa Classic at Tempe, Ariz. The Lions won three straight season openers between 2010-12 but previously had dropped seven in-a-row between 2003-09.
NOMINATED
Junior Lexi Knief (Ramsey, N.J.) was the Nittany Lions nominee for USA's Softball's top 50 players to watch. Last season Knief led the lions in batting average (.372), runs (37), hits (58), triples (6), total bases (80) and slugging percentage (.513), while being just one of three players to start and play in all of the team's 49 games. She also was perfect in the field, earning a 1.000 fielding percentage, making no errors in 76 chances in the outfield.
BOCA RE-TON
For the second straight season Penn State will be playing in a tournament hosted by Florida Atlantic. In 2014, the Lions went 0-5 versus No. 5 Kentucky, host FAU and in-state rival Pittsburgh during the Florida Atlantic Invite. PSU last played in the FAU Kick-Off Tournament in 2011, going 2-3 to begin the season against Tulsa, UMass, Long Island and the Owls. This century, PSU is 6-8, while playing at FAU's home stadium in Boca Raton.
NEWS FACES IN FAMILAR PLACES
Although Penn State is no stranger to the Sunshine State, having played in at least one Florida tournament 22 out of the last 23 seasons, it will square off against four schools it has played three times or less. The only team PSU has gone to bat against on more than three occasions in this tournament is host Florida Atlantic, who it holds a 5-4 record against in nine previous meetings. The Lions are just 1-0 vs. Arkansas and LIU Brooklyn, 1-2 against Georgia Tech and 0-2 when playing Kansas.
NEW NAMES AND NUMBERS
2015 brings with it a new season but also some new names and numbers to the Penn State program. This season a half-dozen freshman litter the Lion lineup and roster as Jessica Cummings (#1), Mia Monopoli (#13), Rebecca Ziegler (#15), Gianna Arrizurieta (#21), Mollie Sorenson (#22) and Alyssa VanDerveer will all call Happy Valley home for the first time. Junior transfer Erin Pond (#2) also makes her debut in the Blue and White.
SOPHOMORE SEASON
Although it's been a while since head coach Amanda Lehotak was a sophomore playing at Ole' Miss, she enters her sophomore season on the bench as the leader of the PSU program. In her first season the Lions went 14-35 with a 5-18 B1G mark. Here's a look at how second year coaches have fared at Penn State over the years.
| COACH | YEAR | RECORD | PCT. |
| Pat McTarsney | 1966 | 2-2 | .500 |
| Pat McTarsney | 1975 | 8-7 | .533 |
| Sue Rankin | 1983 | 25-13 | .658 |
| Rob Petrini | 1998 | 21-28-1 | .430 |
| Amanda Lehotak | 2015 |
* Pat McTarsney returned to coaching after a one year hiatus in 1973.
ROUGH ROAD
Penn State's 2015 schedule is a challenging one, with 56 games on the slate against opponents in conferences such as the SEC, ACC and the Big 12. The Lions will take on a total of four teams (Michigan, Georgia, Texas A&M and Missouri in the Top 25 as well as another four (Wisconsin, Mississippi State, James Madison, Northwestern) who are receiving votes in both the USA Today/NFCA and the ESPN/USA Softball Top 25 polls.
NATIONAL PROGRAM
This season the Lions boast a total of 18 players from states other than the Commonwealth. Two from Hawaii, one from Washington and five from California dot the western edge of the States, while four from N.Y. and N.J. join other ones from Maryland, Ohio, Virginia and Florida to make-up the eastern part of the country. Three Pennsylvanians (Marlaina Laubach, Christy Von Pusch and Mary Ward) bring some in-state pride to the program while, one from Arizona and another from Texas add unique flair to an already diverse group.
A HALF CENTURY OF TRADITION
Penn State softball is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2015, making it the oldest program among the schools in the power five conferences (ACC, B1G, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC). The Lions started up in 1965 under head coach Pat McTarsney and went 2-2 in their first season with wins against Elizabethtown and Wilson colleges. PSU defeated both in-state schools by a combined 46-4 score. The second oldest program among the power five is Arizona State, which began play just two years later in 1967.